Great Western Coffee Shop

Hello. I just wondered if anyone knew anything about this...

I was due to go to London today but heard on the travel news on the radio that there were 45 minute delays on FGW between Reading and Paddington.. Sure enough when I pulled into the station car park at Maidenhead I could see a stationary HST waiting at a red signal which is never a good sign.. Also earlier (in hindsight) I'd heard trains in the distance blowing their horns/whistles (I'm sure there is a technical term for this  :)!) which usually means there are train problems... In the end I decided not to spend any money on car park and train fares as I had no idea how big the problem was... NR website was infact still showing trains on time as it can't cope with problems such as this..as at that point my train was still technically on time according to them (even though it was pretty obvious to me and other people that it wouldn't (and didn't) get to Paddington on time..

Was this in the morning peak?

Only thing I can find is 06:07 from Frome - Paddington had technical difficulties between Twyford and Maidenhead, but this incident cleared about 08:40 so I don't think it would have caused any severe delays.

Thanks, as ever, Ollie!  ;)

Can either of you spot the problem here (http://www.savethetrain.org.uk/running.php)?

I was trying to get the 09.03 from Maidenhead and by then the travel news was suggesting 45 minute delays..So the service Ollie mentions could have been the problem but I heard the travel news shortly after 08.40 so would be surprised if it had got on there as fast as that.. As it was the 9.03 got to Paddington 20 minutes late so not as bad as I'd feared and I'd have gone for it had I had more useful information.. So there must have been something else delaying the trains although goodness knows what  :)

Thanks Chris, but no  :D

No ... nor could I!  ::)

The nearest I got was


Sorry, Jo: it remains a mystery!  ;) :D ;D

Yep.. that was the closest I got too.. Thanks Chris..

I should have take a screen of the Paddington arrivals board about 9.30am to prove I wasn't making it up  ;D

If it helps there were also signalling problems, as the train I was on, the 09:02 from Reading to Paddington got into Paddington about 30minutes late.

Thanks Ollie.. I guess it was that then.. I'm glad I decided not to travel since I didn't desperately have to...